software development

One of the biggest problems in software performance today occurs when the people who write software are different from the people who are required to solve the performance problems that their software causes. It works like this:

1. Architects design a system and pass the specification off to the developers.
2. The developers implement the specs the architects gave them, while the architects move on to design another system.
3. When the developers are “done” with their phase, they pass the code off to the production operations team. The operators run the system the developers gave them, while the developers move on to write another system.

The process is an assembly line for software: architects specialize in architecture, developers specialize in development, and operators specialize in operating. It sounds like the principle of industrial efficiency taken to its logical conclusion in the software world.

What’s the best way to make a presentation on Agile practices? Practice Agile practices.

You could write a presentation “big bang” style, delivering version 1.0 in front of your big audience of 200+ people at Kscope 2011 before anybody has seen it. Of course, if you do it that way, you build a lot of risk into your product. But what else can you do?

You can execute the Agile practices of releasing early and often, allowing the reception of your product to guide its design. Whenever you find an aspect of your product that doesn’t get the enthusiastic reception you had hoped for, you fix it for the next release.